Police: Man shot at while trying to repossess car

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Larry Dabbs, 40, is out of the hospital after he was shot in the neck Thursday morning while trying to repossess a car.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have charged 73-year-old Navoid Russell with assault with intent to kill and discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle.

Police said Russell came out of his southwest Charlotte home on Barfield Drive this early Thursday morning and opened fire on Dabbs with a .22-caliber rifle.

Dabbs was there to repossess a Kia from the property. He took off in his tow truck, and Russell followed him in an SUV, officials said. Dabbs stopped his truck in the parking lot of a Walgreens on Sharon Road.

Police later found Russell and his grandson in the SUV on Tyvola. Both were handcuffed and taken to police headquarters, but the grandson was later released and won't face charges.

Friends described Russell as a great neighbor, and were stunned to learn what he's accused of.

"If he did that it comes as a surprise to me," said friend and neighbor Dorothy Darby. "Mr. Russell has small grandchildren. It seems very out of character that he would endanger, possible endanger other people."

Eyewitness News was there when police brought Russell to jail before dawn on Thursday. He seemed disoriented, and said he didn't know why he was being arrested.

Dabbs works for a local company called Car Masters. A manager there didn't want to comment on camera, but said they are glad that Dabbs will be OK.

Shelia Foltz lives near Dabbs in a Gastonia apartment complex. She was saddened to learn what happened to him, but not surprised.

"I used to work collections at a bank in Tennessee," Foltz said. "That's a dangerous job. Doing repos, they'll shoot at you, they'll send a dog out after you. Anything to get you to leave and not pick up their vehicle."

Russell is being held on a $75,000 bond. He's expected in court for a first appearance Friday afternoon.